User-calibrated activity newsfeed on a social network

ABSTRACT

Calibration and publication of user activity on a computer implemented social network is provided. Activity signals of user activity is measured by an activity monitor and calibrated by the user. The calibration includes assigning an activity signal with a personalized identifier for the activity for comparison with future measured activity signals. Near real-time publication of the activity on the social network allow users of the network to timely view user behavior. The publication on a social networking website includes the identifier if the activity has been calibrated. By calibrating and publishing user activity, users can connect to others based on the activity. The publication can be on newsfeed on a user profile for friends of the user to view. A user and the user&#39;s friends can communicate with each other, which allows the user to receive motivation from the friends and be accountable to the friends.

BACKGROUND

Making lasting changes to personal behavior, such as weight loss orincreasing fitness, can be a daunting task. Traditional methods forweight loss and fitness, including expert advice, diet regimens, books,and videos, are often ineffective due to their lack of emphasis onmotivation and accountability. Internet-based weight loss and fitnessprograms are currently available, though they often suffer from the samedeficiencies as the more traditional methods.

Social networking websites, such as Facebook.com, MySpace.com, andTwitter.com, provide members of the websites with access to an onlinecommunity. Typically, a member of a social networking website is able topost and update member information, display pictures, join commoninterest groups, and send and receive messages from other members of thewebsite. Twitter.com allows a member to update the member's informationby sending a text message from the member's mobile phone. From thisfunction, a member of Twitter.com is able to conveniently post themember's behavior in approximately real-time. However, the posting ofmember information is not automated, therefore accurate updates ofmember information require frequent and numerous text-based entries.

Activity-monitoring devices exist to make measurements of the activitiesof the users of the devices. A user of an activity-monitoring device canstore the measurements in a computer for later viewing. However, the rawactivity measurements can be difficult to interpret and identify becauseof the wide variety of potential activities. The activity measurementsalso generally do not give personalized or customized information, suchcustomization is necessary due to the wide variation among differentusers undertaking similar activities.

The present invention addresses the difficult problem of affectingpersonal behavior and accurately and timely publishing the activity of aperson. The present invention advances the art with a user-calibratedactivity newsfeed on a social network capable of connecting people basedon the activities.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to calibrating activity measured by anactivity monitor and publishing the activity to a computer implementedsocial network. An activity monitor is operated by a user of the socialnetwork and measures an activity signal due to the activity of the user.The measured activity can be identified by earlier user-calibratedactivities and published on the social network website to friends of theuser. The publication can be done essentially concurrently with theactual activity of the user. The calibration by the users themselvesenables measured activities to be identified despite the wide variationof activities and users. The near real-time publication of activity to asocial network of the present invention permits friends of the user toreceive accurate and up-to-date behavioral information about the user.Furthermore, the user-calibrated and published activities allow users ofthe social network to connect to each other around user activities.These features are particularly useful for a social network foraffecting personal behavior.

In the present invention, the activity signal is stored and comparedwith previously calibrated activities. If the activity signal isidentified with one of the previously calibrated activities, theidentifier is published on the social networking website. Thepublication can be on a newsfeed on a user profile of the user. If theactivity signal does not correspond with any of the previouslycalibrated activities, the user can calibrate the activity by assigningan identifier to the activity. Calibration can occur while the activityis undertaken or any time afterward. Furthermore, user-calibration canbe accomplished on the activity monitor or on a separate computingmeans.

The activity monitor can be a portable device capable of transmittingactivity signals or other data wirelessly to the application serveroperating the computer implemented social network. The activity monitorcan be an accelerometer, a pedometer, a GPS navigational device, amobile phone, a personal digital assistant, or any other device capableof measuring motion of the user and/or distances traveled by the user.The activity monitor device can also be a medical device, such as aheart monitor or a glucose monitor, capable of measuring signals due tochanges internal to the body of the user. The nature of the activitysignal would depend on the type of activity monitor and the presentinvention functions irrespective of the type of activity monitor.

The present invention is particularly beneficial for users of a socialnetwork for behavioral change, such as weight loss or fitness. Inaddition to calibration and publication, the present invention enablesusers of the social network to connect to each other around theactivities by communicating with each other. A user can transmit andreceive messages to other users of the social network directly on theactivity monitor or through other computing means. The connections andmessages can be for motivational, encouragement, and accountabilitypurposes.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

The present invention together with its objectives and advantages willbe understood by reading the following description in conjunction withthe drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows an example of a system for monitoring and publishinguser-calibrated activity on a social network according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 shows an example of an activity monitor according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 3 shows an example of an activity calibration interface accordingto the present invention.

FIG. 4 shows an example of a user profile with a newsfeed displayinguser activity according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 shows an example of a friends list displaying the activity of thefriends of a user according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

By providing friendship, support and accountability, a social network isa powerful tool that can help a user of the social network manage his orher personal behavior. To accomplish this, user activity must beaccurately monitored, calibrated, and published for other users of thesocial network to view, which may foster connections between users basedon the user activity. Below is a detailed description of auser-calibrated activity newsfeed on a social network.

FIG. 1 shows an example of a user Z whose activity is monitored by anactivity monitor 150 and published on a computer implemented socialnetwork. The activity monitor measures an activity signal 155 based onthe activity of user Z. The activity signal 155 is identified based onthe user's calibration of the activity. The identified activity ispublished to friends A, B and C of user Z, where user Z and friends A, Band C are part of the computer implemented social network.

In a preferred embodiment, the social network is for affecting personalbehavior, such as for fitness and weight loss. For example, user Z is aregistered user of the social network who is trying to lose weight byphysical exercise and dieting. Friends A, B and C of user Z view theactivity of user Z and can send messages to user Z. By having friendswatch the user's activity, the social network helps build accountabilityto help the user accomplish his or her behavioral change goals. Themessages sent by the friends are useful for encouragement andmotivation. Friends A, B and C can be registered with the computerimplemented social network. However, one or more friends of registereduser Z need not be registered, associated, or affiliated with the socialnetwork.

An application server 120 operates the social network. Functions of theapplication server 120 include storing user information, maintaining alist of friends for each user, and providing a means for users tocommunicate with each other. In a preferred embodiment, the applicationserver 120 also maintains a user profile for each of the registeredusers of the social network. Members of the social network access thesocial network via a computer network, such as the Internet 110. Themembers of the social network access the network through any computingmeans capable of communicating with the network. The computing meansinclude personal computers, laptops, mobile phones, and personal digitalassistants. In a preferred embodiment, the interface with the socialnetwork is through a web browser.

The activity signal 155 measured by the activity monitor 150 istransmitted to the application server 120 to be published on the socialnetwork. In a preferred embodiment, the transmission of the activitysignal 155 is through a wireless connection. The activity monitor 150transmits the activity signal to the application server 120 via awireless gateway, such as a short message system (SMS) gateway. Thewireless transmission allows the activity to be published in nearreal-time, regardless of where the activity is undertaken.Alternatively, the activity monitor 150 can transmit the activity signal155 through a wired connection with another computing meanscommunicatively connected to the application server 120.

The activity monitor 150 can be any device capable of measuring aproperty of the user of the device. In a preferred embodiment, theactivity monitor 150 is an accelerometer for measuring the motion of theuser. The acceleration measurements of the accelerometer depend on theactivity undertaken by the user. The activity monitor 150 can be anyportable, wearable, or handheld device. The monitor can be a pedometeror a global positioning system (GPS) device for measuring locations anddistances traveled. Medical devices, such as a heart monitor, a glucosemonitor, or a diabetes monitor, can also be used to monitor the user'sactivity based on signals derived from changes internal to the user'sbody. The activity monitor 150 can be incorporated into a portablecomputing device such as a mobile phone or a personal digital assistant.For example, an accelerometer built into a mobile phone measures auser's motion, then the measurements are transmitted through a cellphone network to the application server 120 for publishing the activity.The nature of the activity signal 155 depends on the activity monitor150. The signal 155 can be a simple numerical value or a location.However, the activity signal 155 may also be a more complicated patternmeasured by the activity monitor.

FIG. 2 shows an example of an activity monitor 150 measuring an activitysignal 155. Optionally, the activity monitor 150 marks a timestamp 210to denote when the activity signal 155 was measured. The timestamp 210can be helpful for calibration. Alternatively, the user can manuallyenter the timestamp on the activity monitor 150 or the applicationserver 120 marks the timestamp when it receives the activity signal 155from the activity monitor 150.

In a preferred embodiment, a user can communicate with the user'sfriends through the activity monitor 150. FIG. 2 shows a display 230 onthe monitor 150, in which an encouraging message sent by a friend of theuser is displayed. A message-receiving button 260 is available toconnect with the application server 120 and receive messages fromfriends of the user. The activity monitor may also have two-waycommunication capabilities.

In a preferred embodiment, the activity signal 155 is transmitted to theapplication server 120 and stored for later calibration. FIG. 3 shows anexample of a user interface 300 accessible by the user to calibrateactivity signals. An unidentified activity signal 355 requirescalibration. The user enters an identifier for the unidentified activitysignal 355 in the textbox 350. The now identified activity signal issaved 340 for later comparison with other activity signals. Previouslycalibrated activities can also be edited 330 by changing theidentifiers. Alternatively, calibration of the activity can also beaccomplished directly on the activity monitor 150 during or after theactivity.

The calibrated activity signals are used to identify other activitysignals. For example, since the running activity signal 155 iscalibrated, the activity monitor 150 would measure a similar but newsignal during another run by the user. This new signal would be comparedwith all of the stored activity signals and identified as a runningsignal if similarities between the new signal and the calibrated runningsignal are sufficient. The comparison of signals depends on the natureof the signals and could include thresholds or ranges of values.Preferably, the application server 120 (or a database connected to theserver 120) stores the user-calibrated signals and matches new activitysignals with the calibrated signals. However, signal comparison andmatching can also be accomplished by the activity monitor 150.

The application server 120 publishes the activity after the activitysignal is compared with the calibrated activity signals and matching hasbeen attempted. In a preferred embodiment, the activity is published onthe user profile 400 of the user who is undertaking or has undertakenthe activity. An example of a user profile is shown on FIG. 4. The userprofile 400 has a newsfeed 410, which displays current and pastactivities of the user with the activity identifiers. If an activitysignal cannot be identified with the calibrated activity signals, theactivity corresponding to the activity signal is denoted as unidentifiedon the newsfeed 410. The time and date 430 of the activities are alsopublished. If an activity were unidentified, the time and date 430 wouldaid in calibrating the activity. A scroll bar 415 enables viewers of theuser profile 400 to scroll to other published activities.

The use of calibrated activities to identify other activities enablesautomated updates of user behavior to the social network. Automatedactivity identification and posting eliminates the necessity for a userto tediously and frequently log data. Furthermore, because usersself-calibrate their activities, the problems for activityidentification due to the large variety of potential activities and thewide variation of activity signals for similar activities amongdifferent users are overcome.

It is important to note that the accurately published user activitiesenable users of the social network to connect to other users around theactivities. For example, a user undertaking an activity can use thecalibrated and published activities of other users to find other userscurrently doing the same or a similar activity. The connections areparticularly useful for a social network for personal behavioralmodification.

For making connections, a function is provided for users of the socialnetwork to communicate with each other. A message box 420 is displayedon the user profile 400. The message box shows messages sent to the userby friends of the user. A scroll bar 425 enables viewers of the messagebox to scroll to other messages sent to the user. The messages sent tothe user help to motivate the user and hold the user accountable byknowing that others are monitoring the user's activities. Other userattributes can also be displayed on the user profile 400.

FIG. 5 shows an example of a friend interface 500 with a list of friends510. One or more friends of the user may use an activity monitor aswell. The current activities of the friends of the user are displayed bythe list 510. The activities are published on the list 510 with thecorresponding activity identifiers if the activities are calibrated. Inone embodiment, a view button 560 links to the user profile of thefriend for more detailed displays of the friend's activities and otherattributes.

A user and the user's friends can communicate by entering 575 andsending 573 messages. The messages can serve any purpose, includingencouragement. In addition to a custom message, the sender of themessage can also choose from a list of stored messages. Furthermore, apoke 574 can be sent to a friend. A poke 574 is a short message simplyto notify the receiver of the poke 574 that a friend was thinking of thereceiver. Optionally, a poke 574 is automatically sent to a user when afriend of the user views the user profile of the user.

A user may also find 571 people to become friends with the user.Potential friends can be contacted by manually entering contactinformation or by importing email address books and sending emails topeople listed in the address books. As mentioned above, friends of auser need not be registered with the social network. Not registeredfriends of the social network can be invited 572 to join the network. Asa registered user of the social network, the application server wouldhost a user profile and maintain a list of friends for the registeredmember. Further details on the nature of the friends of a registereduser are described in U.S. Non-Provisional patent application Ser. No.11/983,126 filed Nov. 6, 2007, which is hereby incorporated byreference.

As one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate, various changes,substitutions, and alterations could be made or otherwise implementedwithout departing from the principles of the present invention, e.g. theInternet could be substituted by a local area network. Accordingly, thescope of the invention should be determined by the following claims andtheir legal equivalents.

1. A method for publishing user activity, comprising: having a computerimplemented social network of a plurality of users and a plurality offriends of each of said plurality of users; providing a calibratingfunction allowing one of said plurality of users of said social networkto calibrate an activity from an activity signal measured by an activitymonitor operated by the same of said plurality of users, wherein saidcalibration comprises assigning an activity identifier to said activitysignal and storing said assignment; and publishing said activity of oneof said plurality of users to said plurality of friends of the same ofsaid plurality of users, wherein said publication includes said activityidentifier if said activity is calibrated.
 2. The method as set forth inclaim 1, further comprising providing a messaging function that allowseach of said plurality of users and said plurality of friends of thesame of said plurality of users to communicate with each other, whereinsaid communications can be for encouraging the same of said plurality ofusers.
 3. The method as set forth in claim 2, wherein said activitymonitor is a portable wireless device, wherein said communications sentfrom said plurality of friends of said user operating said device isreceived by said portable wireless device.
 4. The method as set forth inclaim 1, wherein said plurality of friends of each of said plurality ofusers comprise: (a) one or more of said plurality of users of saidsocial network; (b) one or more persons not registered to said socialnetwork; or (c) said (a) and said (b).
 5. The method as set forth inclaim 1, further comprising maintaining a user profile for each of saidplurality of users, wherein said activity is published on a newsfeed onsaid user profile.
 6. The method as set forth in claim 1, wherein saidpublishing indicates said activity is unidentified if said activity isnot calibrated.
 7. The method as set forth in claim 1, furthercomprising storing said activity signal and a timestamp of said activityfor said calibration.
 8. The method as set forth in claim 1, whereinsaid activity monitor is an accelerometer for measuring the motion ofthe user operating said accelerometer.
 9. The method as set forth inclaim 1, wherein said activity monitor is a pedometer, a GPSnavigational device, a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant, ahandheld device, a wearable device, a medical device, a heart monitor, aglucose monitor, a diabetes monitor, or any combination thereof.
 10. Asystem for publishing user activity, comprising: (a) an applicationserver for operating a computer implemented social network of aplurality of users of said social network, wherein at least one of saidplurality of users is monitored and wherein said application server: (i)maintains a list of friends for each of said plurality of users of saidsocial network; and (ii) allows said friends of each of said pluralityof users to communicate with the same of said plurality of users; (b) anactivity monitor for monitoring the activity of said at least onemonitored user of said social network, wherein said activity monitormeasures an activity signal corresponding to the activity of said atleast one monitored user; (c) a calibration module for allowing said atleast one monitored user to calibrate said monitored activity of said atleast one monitored user, wherein said calibrating comprises assigningan activity identifier to said activity signal and storing saidassignment; and (d) a publication module for publishing said activity ofsaid at least one monitored user, wherein said publication includes saidactivity identifier if said activity is calibrated, wherein said friendsof said at least one monitored user can send a motivating message tosaid at least one monitored user based on said published activity. 11.The system as set forth in claim 10, wherein said application serverhosts a user profile for each of said plurality of users of said socialnetwork and wherein said publication is on a newsfeed on said userprofile of said at least one monitored user.
 12. The system as set forthin claim 10, wherein said friends of each of said plurality of userscomprise: (a) one or more of said plurality of users of said socialnetwork; (b) one or more persons not registered to said social network;or (c) said (a) and said (b).
 13. The system as set forth in claim 10,further comprising a wireless gateway, wherein said activity monitor isa portable wireless device, wherein said portable wireless device sendssaid activity signal to said application server via said wirelessgateway.
 14. The system as set forth in claim 13, wherein saidcalibration module is operable on said portable wireless device.
 15. Thesystem as set forth in claim 13, wherein said friends of said at leastone monitored user can send messages to said portable wireless devicevia said wireless gateway.
 16. The system as set forth in claim 10,wherein said publication indicates said activity is unidentified if saidactivity is not calibrated.
 17. The system as set forth in claim 10,wherein said activity monitor or said application server marks atimestamp corresponding to said activity signal, wherein said timestampcan be used by said calibration module.
 18. The system as set forth inclaim 10, wherein said activity monitor is an accelerometer, formeasuring the motion of said at least one monitored user.
 19. The systemas set forth in claim 10, wherein said activity monitor is a pedometer,a GPS navigational device, a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant,a handheld device, a wearable device, a medical device, a heart monitor,a glucose monitor, a diabetes monitor, or any combination thereof. 20.The system as set forth in claim 11, wherein said activity monitor is amedical device, and wherein said calibration module, said publicationmodule, or said calibration module and said publication module areoperable on said medical device.